Mayor Daniel Sazonov will host the Mayor’s Independence Day celebration for fourth-grade students at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki on Tuesday 1 December. You can immerse yourself in the atmosphere of the celebration via the Helsinki Channel’s live stream.
Mayor Daniel Sazonov has invited all fourth-grade students in Helsinki to celebrate Finland’s independence. 6,500 students and their teachers are expected to attend the celebration.
Joy, excitement, music and a festive atmosphere – all this is on the menu of the fourth-graders’ ball at Finlandia Hall on 1 December.
You can experience the atmosphere at Finlandia Hall through our live streams. The programme features cheerful celebration, music and interviews. The streams will be available in Finnish and Swedish. You can also find recordings of the streams on the Helsinki Channel website.
The students will be divided into groups for three consecutive events. Each event will be streamed separately. The events will start at 9.15, 12.45 and 16.15. We will provide links to the streams on this page before the event.
Check out the Helsinki Channel(Link leads to external service)
You can also follow the celebration for fourth-graders on the City of Helsinki’s social media channels.
The celebration day will be divided into three events, each featuring the same programme. The children will come to Finlandia Hall from the schools by bus, after which they will form a line for the greeting handshake. Performers from Circus Helsinki will entertain those waiting for their turn.
Greeting the hosts
The guests will be greeted by the Mayor of Helsinki Daniel Sazonov, Deputy Mayor Reetta Vanhanen and Head of the City of Helsinki Education Division Satu Järvenkallas. The students will form three lines, with each line leading to one of the hosts, whom they will greet and shake hands with.
During the greetings the Helsinki Police Symphonic Band will provide music befitting the occasion.
Celebratory toast and meal
Following the mayors’ greeting, the guests will be served a celebratory drink and a selection of savoury and sweet delicacies prepared by the chefs at Finlandia Hall to suit the theme of the event. This will also provide the children with a moment to socialise and exchange thoughts with their classmates. A lively buzz of conversation will fill Finlandia Hall.
Speeches by the Mayor and schoolchildren, and the national anthem
Mayor Daniel Sazonov will deliver his Independence Day speech in Finnish and Swedish. The programme also features thank-you speeches from schoolchildren. Everyone will sing the Finnish national anthem together.
Surprise artist
An eagerly awaited star performer will take to the stage. We have chosen an artist who is popular amongst young people and represents contemporary music. Can you guess who it is this year?
Dancing
The celebration will conclude with an Independence Day dance, for which the students have been practising all autumn. The dance’s songs include Cicapo, Jingel Bells, Jiffy Mixer, Rock Around the Clock, Letkajenkka and Bara bada bastu.
Practise the dances with the Helsinki Education Division’s YouTube videos(Link leads to external service) (in Finnish)
The Helsinki Police Symphonic Band will provide live music for the dancing.
The schools sign up their fourth-graders for the event at the start of the autumn semester and will provide parents and guardians with more detailed practical instructions. Every student will receive a personal invitation letter in November.
The students will attend the celebration with their teacher. The teacher will also make sure that the students return to their school after the event.
Schools may also organise their own celebratory events, where the students’ loved ones can come to watch the dances. Due to the large number of participants, it is not possible to invite parents and guardians to attend the celebration at Finlandia Hall.
Children can dress formally for the occasion according to their own style and taste. You can also borrow or buy a recycled outfit.
This celebration has a long tradition in Helsinki: the first ball at Finlandia Hall was held in 1997. In 2022–2024, the event was held at Messukeskus due to renovations, but last year the event returned to Finlandia Hall.
The Helsinki Police Symphonic Band also performed at the first Mayor’s Independence Day celebration.
The Mayor’s Independence Day celebration is organised by the City of Helsinki, with the Helsinki Events Foundation in charge of production and overall planning.